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  | |  |  | HR0476 |  | LRB098 12560 MST 46988 r | 
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| 1 |  | HOUSE RESOLUTION
  
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| 2 |  |     WHEREAS, In October 2007, William Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz,  | 
| 3 |  | was named Chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks, following his  | 
| 4 |  | late father William W. Wirtz; and
  
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| 5 |  |     WHEREAS, In his role as Chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks,  | 
| 6 |  | Rocky Wirtz oversees all aspect of the
Blackhawks operations;  | 
| 7 |  | and
  
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| 8 |  |     WHEREAS, Rocky Wirtz had the wisdom and vision to promote  | 
| 9 |  | John McDonough to the position of
President and CEO on June 1,  | 
| 10 |  | 2011; John McDonough started with the organization as President  | 
| 11 |  | in 2007; and
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| 12 |  |     WHEREAS, Under the leadership of Rocky Wirtz and John  | 
| 13 |  | McDonough, the Chicago Blackhawks
have had the largest  | 
| 14 |  | percentage of fan base growth among all teams in the 4 major  | 
| 15 |  | sports leagues over the past
5 years, have had over 220  | 
| 16 |  | consecutive sellouts, and have increased their season ticket  | 
| 17 |  | base to over
14,000; and
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| 18 |  |     WHEREAS, The organization placed their trust in Stan Bowman  | 
| 19 |  | as general manager and Joel Quenneville
as head coach; and
  
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| 20 |  |     WHEREAS, Rocky Wirtz, John McDonough, Stan Bowman, and Joel  | 
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| 1 |  | Quenneville worked together to
assemble a Blackhawks team that  | 
| 2 |  | set the National Hockey League record for points to start a  | 
| 3 |  | season and
won the President's Trophy for earning the best  | 
| 4 |  | regular season record in the league; and
  
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| 5 |  |     WHEREAS, On June 24, 2013, the Chicago Blackhawks won their  | 
| 6 |  | fifth Stanley Cup by beating the  Boston Bruins,
in one of the  | 
| 7 |  | most exciting NHL final series ever; therefore, be it
  
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| 8 |  |     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE  | 
| 9 |  | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that  | 
| 10 |  | we honor the sports ownership and executive leadership of  | 
| 11 |  | William Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz, owner of the Chicago Blackhawks  | 
| 12 |  | franchise, upon the hoisting by the Blackhawks of the 2013  | 
| 13 |  | Stanley Cup in acknowledgement of their position as the  | 
| 14 |  | champions of North American ice hockey; and be it further
  
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| 15 |  |     RESOLVED, That we honor the entire Wirtz family for their  | 
| 16 |  | roles as owners in Chicago professional sports
and leaders of  | 
| 17 |  | the Illinois business community, and anchors and developers of  | 
| 18 |  | Chicago's West Side; and
be it further
  
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| 19 |  |     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be  | 
| 20 |  | presented to William Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz as a
expression of  | 
| 21 |  | our appreciation for the leadership role of the Wirtz family,  | 
| 22 |  | and for the performance of
excellence demonstrated by the  |